This powerful, thought provoking collection of 61 poems, whilst primarily concerning people - human awareness, desire, love and sex, and awareness of beauty and its loss - also embraces big contemporary issues, social and environmental. Written in an elegant and forceful style, the author has the breadth of mind to make us think deeply about ourselves and our place in the world. Hence, although he, like us, is but one of the many - one under the sun - his is clearly an impelling voice.This book is for anyone and everyone who loves life in all its variety, uncertainty, including the bright lights as well as the darkest of darkness. Vincent Spada was born in 1976 and currently lives in Massachusetts. He is the author of a wide range of poetry and prose. This is his first published collection of poetry.
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • A novelist discovers the dark side of Hollywood and reckons with ambition, corruption, and environmental collapse in “a darkly satirical reflection of ecological reality” (Time) LONGLISTED FOR THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, Time, Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Vulture, Thrillist, Literary Hub “An urgent novel about our very near future, and a deeply addictive pleasure.”—Katie Kitamura, author of Intimacies Novelist Patrick Hamlin has come to Los Angeles to oversee the film adaptation of one of his books and try to impress his wife and daughter back home with this last-ditch attempt at professional success. But California is not as he imagined. Drought, wildfire, and corporate corruption are everywhere, and the company behind a mysterious new brand of synthetic water seems to be at the root of it all. Patrick finds an unlikely partner in Cassidy Carter—the cynical starlet of his film—and the two investigate the sun-scorched city, where they discover the darker side of all that glitters in Hollywood. Something New Under the Sun is an unmissable novel for our present moment—a bold exploration of environmental catastrophe in the age of alternative facts, and “a ghost story not of the past but of the near future” (The New York Times).
Under One Sun is a quick guide to a very broad field. Its guiding goal is to enable anyone to acquire a solid understanding of any historical topic in just a few minutes. While other history books (and even Wikipedia) require a high level of background knowledge, a good deal of time, and, especially to the uninitiated, a lot of confusion, Under One Sun assumes no expertise and no time to waste. Divided into crisp, intuitive sections based on time and place, you can read straight through from the Fertile Crescent to Silicon Valley, or jump in and around according to your own interests. The world is a big and confusing place, and in the past it was stranger still. But with this book as your guide, hopefully it will not take too long to get your bearings.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The beloved memoir of self-discovery set against the spectacular Tuscan countryside that inspired the major motion picture starring Diane Lane—now in a twentieth-anniversary edition featuring a new afterword “This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house and, always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one. But it’s so delicious, read it first yourself.”—USA Today For more Frances Mayes, including a tour of her now iconic Cortona home, Bramasole, watch PBS’s Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special! More than twenty years ago, Frances Mayes—widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer—introduced readers to a wondrous new world when she bought and restored an abandoned Tuscan villa called Bramasole. Under the Tuscan Sun inspired generations to embark on their own journeys—whether that be flying to a foreign country in search of themselves, savoring one of the book’s dozens of delicious seasonal recipes, or simply being transported by Mayes’s signature evocative, sensory language. Now with a new afterword from Frances Mayes, the twentieth-anniversary edition of Under the Tuscan Sun revisits the book’s most popular characters.
What can we learn from looking at the world around us?According to King Solomon, quite a lot. Solomon was a man of faith who took his readers on a voyage through some of the backwater regions of life that we all think about but rarely discuss in public. He wasn't afraid to ask the hard questions or to admit when there were no easy answers.In Something New Under the Sun, Pastor Ray Pritchard walks readers through Ecclesiastes, a book written by King Solomon from an earthly perspective. Solomon examines those things available to us in this life and invites us on a search for ultimate truth. Pastor Pritchard adds poignant and revealing stories to the words of this great king of old to bring this book crashing into our reality as we approach the 21st century.In short, bite-sized devotionals, Ray Pritchard brings us face to face with such topics as:the meaning of lifethe reality of deaththe instability of powerthe futility of richesFor a generation desperately searching for reality - and not knowing where to find it - God wrote a book that sets our feet in the right direction. Join Ray Pritchard as he follows Solomon on his journey to truth through the book of Ecclesiastes.
"The only thing better than the questions, in this delightful and informative book, is the answers." - Neil Gaiman "This book is GLORIOUS. It's heart-and-soul fabulous, page after page." - Stephen Fry "One of the best kids books I have ever had the pleasure of reading" - Pandora Sykes "This book is heaven on a stick" - Sophie Dahl A wonderful new paperback edition of 366 curious questions asked by children from around the world, based on the award-winning podcast by original QI Elf, Molly Oldfield. How much bamboo can a giant panda eat? Do aliens exist? What we would do if we didn't have a prime minister? Why do hammerhead sharks have such strange-shaped heads? Find out the answers to these curious questions and much, much more! Ponder where ideas come from with award-winning illustrator, Rob Biddulph. Find out why you taste things differently when you have a cold with Michelin star chef, Heston Blumenthal. Learn about everything from how astronauts see in the dark to what the biggest dinosaur was with experts from the Natural History Museum. Fascinating facts are accompanied by gorgeous illustrations making the perfect gift for Christmas. Whether you read a question a day, or dip into it whenever you are feeling curious, this is a book to treasure and share all year round. Illustrated by Momoko Abe, Kelsey Buzzell, Beatrice Cerocchi, Alice Courtley, Sandra de la Prada, Grace Easton, Manuela Montoya Escobar, Richard Jones, Lisa Koesterke, Gwen Millward, Sally Mullaney, and Laurie Stansfield. Praise for Everything Under the Sun: "Trivia fans will relish Everything Under the Sun" - The Guardian "A brilliant book for any child, but particularly those who don't love reading stories" - David Walliams "A wonderful gift for families" - Evening Standard "A wonderful collection of 366 curious questions about everything from science to nature, dinosaurs to space" - Scottish Sun "Simply mesmerising compendium" - Waterstones "As cute as it is educational" - Babyccino Kids "This is a book to treasure all year round" - My Baba "An absolute delight" - David Walliams
Which fungus is as sensitive to light as the human eye? What are the myths and facts about the ozone hole, tanning, skin cancer, and sunscreens? What is the effect of light on butterfly copulation? This entertaining collection of essays explores how various organisms -- including archaebacteria, slime molds, fungi, plants, insects, and humans -- sense and respond to sunlight. The essays in Peter A. Ensminger's book cover vision, photosynthesis, and phototropism, as well as such unusual topics as the reason why light causes beer to develop a "skunky" odor. He introducec us to the kinds of eyes that have evolved in different animals, including those in a species of shrimp that is ostensibly eyeless; gives us a better appreciation of color vision; explains how plowing fields at night may be used to control weeds; and tells about variegate porphyria, a metabolic disease that makes people very sensitive to sunlight and may have afflicted King George III of England. These engaging essays present a complicated yet fascinating subject in an accessible way. The book will be treasured by anyone interested in the wonders of biology.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is “an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a poignant meditation on love and loneliness” (The Associated Press). • A GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick! Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
For use in schools and libraries only. Despite a spring vacation spent with her beloved grandmother, Abby is concerned because her enemy cousin, Cleo, will be there as well, leaving Abby to wonder if they will ever get along.